Peter Van Dievoet

Peter van Dievoet
Peter van Dievoet
Born	Brussels
Baptised	29 June 1661
Died	2 March 1729 (68 years old); Brussels
Nationality	(1661–1714) :; Spanish Netherlands; (1714–1729) :; Austrian Netherlands
Known for	Sculpture, architecture
Notable work	Statue of James II, Trafalgar Square and many of the Houses of the Grand-Place,
Style	Baroque,[1] classical[2]
Spouse	Dorothée de Witte
Elected	Guilds of Brussels, Drapery Court, Magistracy of Brussels.

Peter van Dievoet (/ˈdiːvʊt/; French: Pierre, Dutch: Peeter, Latin: Petrus; 1661–1729) was a sculptor, statuary, wood carver, and designer of ornamental architectural features from Brussels. He achieved fame for his work on a number of the Baroque guild houses of the Grand-Place (Brussels' main square),[3] which was rebuilt after the bombardment of 1695, as well as on the Statue of James II[4] in Trafalgar Square, London.[5] He was the brother of Philippe van Dievoet, goldsmith to King Louis XIV of France and the uncle of the Parisian printer Guillaume Vandive.[6]

Biography

Peter van Dievoet was born into the Van Dievoet family in Brussels and baptised at the Church of St. Michael and St. Gudula (now Brussels' cathedral) on 29 June 1661.[7] He was born from the second marriage of Gilles van Dievoet, bourgeois of Brussels, to Gertrude Zeevaert. Gilles van Dievoet (? - † before 1672) had a previous marriage with Catherine Slachmeulder, with whom he had among others: Philippe van Dievoet, goldsmith of King Louis XIV of France. The young Peter was therefore fatherless around the age of twelve or thirteen. His mother later remarried, and died on 22 July 1705.

After some time in Brussels, he moved to England where he was a regular visitor to the studio of Grinling Gibbons. In 1686, he cast and made the statue of James II for St. James's Park in London, now in Trafalgar Square. He returned to Brussels due to the Glorious Revolution of 1688.[4] In 1695, he was master of the Quatre-Couronnés at Brussels, the guild of stonemasons and sculptors. He was an acclaimed sculptor and was involved in the construction of the new Grand-Place in its Baroque style. He was a member (one of "The Eight") then a judge (or "Dean") of the Drapery Court of Brussels from 1713 to 1723.[8]

Career

Time in London (1680–1688)

According to Edmond Marchal, Van Dievoet's most important works are in England and are "among the best of that time".[9] He worked in London in the studio of Quaker sculptor Grinling Gibbons for almost eight years, from 1680 to 1688. His English production (mainly sculptures) remains poorly known because little research has been done to find and inventory it. George Vertue mentions him only as statuary.[10] The same George Vertue, who had found an agreement and a receipt of payment for this work, attributes to him, in collaboration with a certain Laurens of Mechelen, the bronze statue of James II (1686) in the courtyard of Whitehall, currently in Trafalgar Square.[11] Margaret Whinney notes that this statue does not have an English but rather a continental character and gives it the same attribution: "two Flemings, Laurens of Mechelen and Dievot of Brussels (sic), were employed to model and make it."[12] This attribution is repeated by Sir Lionel Henri Cust: "Dyvoet (sic) ... and Laurens ... who executed the statue of James II at Whitehall."[13] The fore-mentioned Laurens is identified by Paul-Eugène Claessens as the sculptor Laurence Vander Meulen from Mechlin.

Studies for a statue of a figure in Roman dress, by Peter van Dievoet, in the British Museum, London[14][15]
Statue of King James II by Peter van Dievoet, in Trafalgar Square, London, 1686

Return to Brussels (1689–1729)

Detail from the wood-carved ornamentation of festoons and fruits by Peter Van Dievoet (Royal Museums of Art and History of Brussels).

The White Lamb, by Peter van Dievoet, Rue du Marché aux Herbes/Grasmarkt, Brussels, 1696

Having returned to his hometown around 1689, Van Dievoet had to meet the requirements of the corporate institution and enrol in the corporation of the Quatre-Couronnés, the Guild of the stonemasons, of which he was officially received as master in 1695. It is at this date that his work in Brussels begins. That same year, Brussels was destroyed by the French bombardment.

Already during his lifetime, Van Dievoet was considered a renowned sculptor. Long after his death, a report of the magistrates of Brussels to Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands, dated 27 September 1771, quotes Van Dievoet in a list of "very remarkable Brussels sculptors".[16] From his Brussels work, we still know only of the pieces mentioned by Guillaume Des Marez,[17] while waiting for other "discoveries" or authentications. He is mainly known there for his realisations and conceptions of many of the guild houses of the famous Grand-Place.

The following are his work as described by Des Marez:[17]

The House of the White Lamb

The sculptures on the facade of the 1696-built House of the White Lamb (Maison de l'Agneau Blanc) on the Rue du Marché aux Herbes/Grasmarkt are the work of Van Dievoet.

The Grand-Place

Van Dievoet sculpted the facades of the following guild halls on the Grand-Place: La Maison du Sac (Grand-Place, number 4), La Maison du Cornet (number 6), La Maison de l'Arbre d'Or or the House of Brewers (number 10), La Maison de la Chaloupe d'Or (number 24-25).[17] He was also the architect for Le Heaume (number 34).[17]

La Maison du Sac
La Maison du Cornet
L'Arbre d'Or
La Maison de la Chaloupe d'Or
La Maison du Heaume

Wood carving

Van Dievoet is also the author of finely chiseled woodcarvings, as shown, for example, by the extremely elaborate lime-wood ornamentation of festoons and fruits, which is preserved at the Royal Museums of Art and History of Brussels.[18] He also carved out of wood, "keerses" which are richly decorated emblems, used for celebrations, for the tailors' guild.[17]

Public functions

Van Dievoet continued his career by exercising public functions. From 1713 to 1723, between ages 52 and 62, he was one of The Eight and then Dean (judge) of the Drapery Court,[8] an old Brussels institution that can be compared to a chamber of commerce, and whose members were called the "brothers of the Guild". At the end of this term, from 1723 to 1724, between ages 62 and 63, he became a member of the magistrate by becoming a Councilor of the City of Brussels.[19] After that, he left public life. A pious man, he had been, until the end of his life, a marguillier (churchwarden) of the Church of St. Michael and St. Gudula. He died in Brussels on 2 March 1729, at 68.

Arms

Coat of arms of Peter van Dievoet
	Notes These personal arms were recorded in 1713 in the roll of arms of the Drapery Court of Brussels and differ from those of his brother Jean-Baptiste and his branch of the family. Escutcheon Per pale Argent and Sable, on a tower embattled of three merlons counterchanged and gated of the field between in chief two mullets of six-points Gules and Or and in base a crescent counterchanged, an escutcheon per pale Or and Gules with a bordure counterchanged.

Gallery:

Peter Van Dievoet's arms from roll of arms of the Drapery Court of Brussels
Van Dievoet's arms are featured on this roll of arms of the members of the Drapery Court of Brussels.

Notes and references

His work in Brussels is Baroque
The statue of James II is, unusually for the time, in a classical style.
Éric Hennaut, "Les couleurs de la Grand-Place. Notes sur les parements des façades après le bombardement de 1695", in Autour du bombardement de Bruxelles de 1695. Désastre et relèvement, p. 65, note 11 : "A.G.R., Métiers et Sements de Brabant 286 (corporation des Brasseurs), comptes 1696-1701 ; A.G.R., Notariat Général de Brabant 1987 (notaire P. Van Cutsem), 18 mars 1697, contract for sculpture with Peter van Dievoet : Item sullen de aenbesteder moeten leveren de noodighe avendersteenen tot het maecken van de voors. wercken."
Horace Walpole, Anecdotes of painting in England: with some account of the principal artists; and incidental notes on other arts; collected by the late Mr. George Vertue ; and now digested and published from his original MSS. by Mr. Horace Walpole, London, 1765, vol. III, p. 91 : "Gibbons had several disciples and workmen; Selden I have mentioned; Watson assisted chiefly at Chatsworth, where the boys and many of the ornaments in the chapel were executed by him. Dievot of Brussels, and Laurens of Mechlin were principal journeymen — Vertue says they modelled and cast the statue I have mentioned in the privy-garden". According to David Green, in Grinling Gibbons, his work as carver and statuary (London, 1964), one Smooke sayd to Vertue that this statue "was modelled and made by Laurence and Devoot [sic]" ; George Vertue, Note Books, ed. Walpole Society, Oxford, 1930-47, vol. I, p.82 : "Lawrence. Dyvoet. statuarys", and ibidem IV, 50 : "Laurens a statuary of Mechlin... Dievot a statuary of Brussels both these artists were in England and assisted Mr. Gibbons in statuary works in K. Charles 2d. and K. James 2d. time, they left England in the troubles of the Revolution and retird to their own country".
"Artistes, de père en fils". Site-LeVif-FR. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
Walériane Dubois, « Ces dynasties qui ont bâti Bruxelles : Les Van Dievoet – Créateurs polyvalents », in Le Vif Weekend, n°8, 5 November 2020, p. 65.
Brussels, registers of baptisms of Saint Gudula of 29 June 1661 : "29 Junius 1661. Petrus filius legitimus Ægidii Van Dievoet, et Gertrudis Zevart. Suscept : Amplissimus D. Petrus Stockmans Curiae Brab: Consiliarius, et Dlla Maria de Smet".
Armorial de la Gilde Drapière, Bibliothèque Royale, Cabinet des Manuscrit, ms. G123.
Edmond Marchal, Mémoire sur la sculpture aux Pays-Bas pendant les xvii^e et xviii^e siècles, Brussels, 1877, pp. 12 et 190.
Lawrence. Dyvoet. statuarys (Notes Books, 1, 82.), ainsi que : Laurens a statuary of Mechlin... Dievot a statuary of Brussels both these artists were in England and assisted Mr. Gibbons in statuary works in K. Charles 2d. and K. James 2d. time, they left England in the troubles of the Revolution and retird to their own country (ibid. IV, 50).
Horace Walpole, Anecdotes of painting in England: with some account of the principal artists; and incidental notes on other arts; collected by the late Mr. George Vertue ; and now digested and published from his original MSS. by Mr. Horace Walpole, Londres, 1765, vol. III, p. 91 : « Gibbons had several disciples and workmen; Selden I have men|tioned; Watson assisted chiefly at Chatsworth, where the boys and many of the ornaments in the chapel were executed by him. Dievot of Brussels, and Laurens of Mechlin were principal journeymen — Vertue says they modelled and cast the statue I have mentioned in the privy-garden ». For David Green, in Grinling Gibbons, his work as carver and statuary (Londres, 1964), a certain Smooke assures Vertue that this statue of James II was modelled and made by Laurence and Devoot (sic).
Margaret Whinney, Sculpture in Britain, 1530 to 1830, London, 1964, p. 55.
Dictionnary of National Biography, vol. VII, p. 1140.
"drawing". British Museum. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
Katherine Gibson, 'The emergence of Grinling Gibbons as a statuary', published in Apollo, September 1999, p. 28.
Edmond Marchal, La sculpture et les chefs-d'œuvre de l'orfèvrerie belge, Brussels, 1895, p. 583
Guillaume Des Marez (Illustrated Guide of Brussels, Brussels, 1928).
Musées royaux d’Art et d’Histoire de Bruxelles, Inventory 614, "encadrement ornemental attribué à Peter van Dievoet" (Brussels, 1661-1729).
Alexandre Henne and Alphonse Wauters, Histoire de la ville de Bruxelles, Éditions culture et civilisation Bruxelles, 1975, Volume 2, pp. 507-508

External links

The genealogy of the family of sculptor Peter Van Dievoet
Van Dievoet, Pierre on the website of the British Museum
Studies for a statue of a figure in Roman dress on the website of the British Museum

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[1] His work in Brussels is Baroque

[2] The statue of James II is, unusually for the time, in a classical style.

[3] Éric Hennaut, "Les couleurs de la Grand-Place. Notes sur les parements des façades après le bombardement de 1695", in Autour du bombardement de Bruxelles de 1695. Désastre et relèvement, p. 65, note 11 : "A.G.R., Métiers et Sements de Brabant 286 (corporation des Brasseurs), comptes 1696-1701 ; A.G.R., Notariat Général de Brabant 1987 (notaire P. Van Cutsem), 18 mars 1697, contract for sculpture with Peter van Dievoet : Item sullen de aenbesteder moeten leveren de noodighe avendersteenen tot het maecken van de voors. wercken."

[:0-4] Horace Walpole, Anecdotes of painting in England: with some account of the principal artists; and incidental notes on other arts; collected by the late Mr. George Vertue ; and now digested and published from his original MSS. by Mr. Horace Walpole, London, 1765, vol. III, p. 91 : "Gibbons had several disciples and workmen; Selden I have mentioned; Watson assisted chiefly at Chatsworth, where the boys and many of the ornaments in the chapel were executed by him. Dievot of Brussels, and Laurens of Mechlin were principal journeymen — Vertue says they modelled and cast the statue I have mentioned in the privy-garden". According to David Green, in Grinling Gibbons, his work as carver and statuary (London, 1964), one Smooke sayd to Vertue that this statue "was modelled and made by Laurence and Devoot [sic]" ; George Vertue, Note Books, ed. Walpole Society, Oxford, 1930-47, vol. I, p.82 : "Lawrence. Dyvoet. statuarys", and ibidem IV, 50 : "Laurens a statuary of Mechlin... Dievot a statuary of Brussels both these artists were in England and assisted Mr. Gibbons in statuary works in K. Charles 2d. and K. James 2d. time, they left England in the troubles of the Revolution and retird to their own country".

[5] "Artistes, de père en fils". Site-LeVif-FR. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2019.

[6] Walériane Dubois, « Ces dynasties qui ont bâti Bruxelles : Les Van Dievoet – Créateurs polyvalents », in Le Vif Weekend, n°8, 5 November 2020, p. 65.

[7] Brussels, registers of baptisms of Saint Gudula of 29 June 1661 : "29 Junius 1661. Petrus filius legitimus Ægidii Van Dievoet, et Gertrudis Zevart. Suscept : Amplissimus D. Petrus Stockmans Curiae Brab: Consiliarius, et Dlla Maria de Smet".

[:1-8] Armorial de la Gilde Drapière, Bibliothèque Royale, Cabinet des Manuscrit, ms. G123.

[9] Edmond Marchal, Mémoire sur la sculpture aux Pays-Bas pendant les xvii^e et xviii^e siècles, Brussels, 1877, pp. 12 et 190.

[10] Lawrence. Dyvoet. statuarys (Notes Books, 1, 82.), ainsi que : Laurens a statuary of Mechlin... Dievot a statuary of Brussels both these artists were in England and assisted Mr. Gibbons in statuary works in K. Charles 2d. and K. James 2d. time, they left England in the troubles of the Revolution and retird to their own country (ibid. IV, 50).

[11] Horace Walpole, Anecdotes of painting in England: with some account of the principal artists; and incidental notes on other arts; collected by the late Mr. George Vertue ; and now digested and published from his original MSS. by Mr. Horace Walpole, Londres, 1765, vol. III, p. 91 : « Gibbons had several disciples and workmen; Selden I have men|tioned; Watson assisted chiefly at Chatsworth, where the boys and many of the ornaments in the chapel were executed by him. Dievot of Brussels, and Laurens of Mechlin were principal journeymen — Vertue says they modelled and cast the statue I have mentioned in the privy-garden ». For David Green, in Grinling Gibbons, his work as carver and statuary (Londres, 1964), a certain Smooke assures Vertue that this statue of James II was modelled and made by Laurence and Devoot (sic).

[12] Margaret Whinney, Sculpture in Britain, 1530 to 1830, London, 1964, p. 55.

[13] Dictionnary of National Biography, vol. VII, p. 1140.

[14] "drawing". British Museum. Retrieved 29 December 2019.

[:3-15] Katherine Gibson, 'The emergence of Grinling Gibbons as a statuary', published in Apollo, September 1999, p. 28.

[16] Edmond Marchal, La sculpture et les chefs-d'œuvre de l'orfèvrerie belge, Brussels, 1895, p. 583

[:2-17] Guillaume Des Marez (Illustrated Guide of Brussels, Brussels, 1928).

[18] Musées royaux d’Art et d’Histoire de Bruxelles, Inventory 614, "encadrement ornemental attribué à Peter van Dievoet" (Brussels, 1661-1729).

[19] Alexandre Henne and Alphonse Wauters, Histoire de la ville de Bruxelles, Éditions culture et civilisation Bruxelles, 1975, Volume 2, pp. 507-508